After a very quiet 2020 the merry-go-round of mergers in the healthcare industry is starting up again. This time it’s Intermountain Healthcare and Sanford Health that are joining forces to continue to drive efficiencies in healthcare delivery.
Noted Dr. Marc Harrison, CEO of Intermountain Healthcare:
Intermountain and Sanford have a shared vision of the future of healthcare and have the aligned values needed to better serve more communities across the nation …This merger enables our organizations to move more quickly to further implement value-based strategies and realize economies of scale. Through coordinated care, increased use of telehealth and digital health services, we will make healthcare more affordable for our communities.”
What is one of the biggest challenges facing healthcare organizations following consolidation? Security is certainly at the top of the list, but so is being able to collaborate across the new organization. Being able to use data from each system helps realize the promise of value-based care and deliver tangible benefits to patients, clinicians, researchers, and administrators.
Said Tim Waters, Senior Manager for Healthcare and Life Sciences at Equinix:
For a hospital system that’s able to collect strong data by way of their rigorous EHR solution, they need to be able to make that data available to someone who can actively use it whether that’s a team within the health system, a life sciences company working on genomic research, or a drug manufacturer looking for test cases for a new drug in development. Ultimately, there needs to be a creative approach to data, like the concept of collaboration, when looking to extract valuable insights.”
